Come Hell or High Water
by EpicnessAndThenSome
Summary: Emotions are a fickle thing. Grant Ward learns that the hard way. One shot about the aftermath of a training session in which everything changes. SkyeWard


**AN: So I just wanted to add in the author's note now... A lot of people have been following this story, which is great! I am so excited! Unfortunately, it is only a one shot. At this point, I don't have any plans to continue it any farther. BUT, I am in the process of writing another fic which follows canon up to the finale and then goes from there. The characterization is very similar to the characterization in this fic, and I'm confident that if you liked _Come Hell or High Water_, then you'll like _Second Chances_ too. _Second Chances_ will be a multi-chapter fic! I'm not sure how long yet, but it will probably be at least 10 chapters, possibly more. Anyways, please check it out! And of course reviews on _Come Hell or High Water_ are appreciated too- they help me become an even better writer for next time! Once again, thank you all for your support!**

"OOF!" The air flew out of his lungs as Grant Ward's back hit the mats. Skye landed on top of him a fraction of a second later, effectively pinning him to the ground. It was the first time she'd managed to do so, but clearly the months of training she'd been putting in were working.

"How's THAT for trying harder" the brunette smirked, her face only inches away from his. She had her forearm resting lightly on his throat, but could have cut off his airway in a heartbeat. One knee was on his chest, with the rest of her leg lined up along his torso so he couldn't sit up. The arm that wasn't at his neck was on the floor, and her unused leg was out to the side. With those two supporting limbs placed the way they were, there was no way he was going to be able to unbalance her. She had him beat.

He hit the back of his head once against the mat in frustration before going limp and looking his captor in the eyes. He was about to reply, but lost his train of thought when he saw how they were gleaming. She was so proud of herself, and she should be! He gave a slight grin, and a moment later Skye closed the small distance between them and kissed him.

To say he was pleasantly surprised would be an understatement. Her lips were so soft, and he found his hands wandering up her back, pulling her closer. Her hand left his throat and wove into his hair, and their bodies relaxed into one another until all of a sudden he threw her off of him. She landed on her butt a couple feet away and scrambled to her feet. The betrayal was evident in her teary eyes as she ran out of the training room.

"Skye-" he called after her, halfheartedly. She didn't look back. "Dammit Ward" he said to himself as he stood up and went over to the punching bag in the corner. His mind was in chaos as he began to hit the heavybag over and over again, each hit helping to organize a thought.

'_I can't get attached. I cannot let myself get attached. I have a mission. I've been on this mission for years I will not blow this now. I am loyal to HYDRA. I am loyal to HYDRA. I am loyal to HYDRA_…' Maybe if he repeated it enough, he'd be able to believe it. He began picturing the team's faces on the bag as he hit. Coulson. May. Simmons. Fitz. Skye… Skye he couldn't hit. He started again. Coulson. May. Simmons. Fitz. Coulson. May. Simmons. Fitz. Coulson. May. Simmons. Fitz. Garrett. Coulson. May. Ward stopped. His mind brought up Garrett's face again, and he swung with such rage that the skin on his knuckles cracked and his hand began to bleed. Swearing, he went over to the med kit hanging on the wall and bandaged up his damaged hand, slamming the container shut when he had finished.

A moment after he finished wrapping the injury, he heard someone coming down the stairs. He quickly slipped through the small door set into the back wall of the training room to avoid seeing whoever it was. The door only led to a narrow hallway of storage lockers, but at least no one would be going in there for a bit. He found a stack of crates in the back corner and climbed up and sat on one, leaning his head against the wall behind him.

'_This wasn't supposed to happen'_ he thought angrily._ 'I'm not supposed to get attached.' _

'_But you did'_ replied another voice, one that sounded suspiciously like the hacker who was the source of all his problems. Well, the voice in his head wasn't wrong. He'd fought it, ignored it, pretended that he wasn't infatuated with the girl and, eventually, he'd almost started believing it.

Until she kissed him. "Dammit, Skye!" he growled at the empty space. And then all of a sudden, he slumped. "Dammit, Grant" he whispered. "You fucked up." He leaned back against the wall again, and closed his eyes.

'_What has HYDRA ever done for me?' _He asked himself. '_Nothing. Yeah, Garrett got me into this, but I don't owe him anything. All HYDRA's ever done for me was make my life hell, for nothing. Well, enough. Starting today, I'm S.H.E.I.L.D. Just S.H.E.I.L.D. HYDRA can go burn for all I care. This team has done more for me in the past 5 months than HYDRA has in the past 15 years, so that's that.' _He stood up and walked back into the training room, earning himself a curious glance from May who was stretching there but, fortunately, she said nothing.

If there was one thing that could be said about Grant Ward, it was that he never wobbled. When he made up him mind about something, that was it. He never looked back, since there was nothing to be done about it. He couldn't go back 15 years and change the fact that he had joined HYDRA in the first place. He couldn't go back 15 minutes and change the fact that he had hurt Skye. But what he could do was renounce HYDRA now, and plead to Skye for forgiveness.

Her bunk was empty when he got there, but he heard running water coming from the bathroom 2 doors down. She was probably in the shower. He sat down on the floor outside her room, and waited.

In the bathroom, Skye was crying. She had the water as hot as it would go, but even the scalding water couldn't wash away the pain she felt inside. '_It was stupid. I shouldn't have kissed him. He's my S.O., and I'm just me. Nobody. Of course he doesn't want me, of COURSE he was going to reject me, I was an idiot! And I'm going to have to face him eventually and oh God, why, WHY did I do that? Dammit, Skye!'_ She kept on beating herself up internally until the hot water eventually ran out. It wasn't until she was toweling herself dry and putting on fresh clothes that she realized. And when she did, she stopped for just one moment as her finger raced lightly over her lower lip. '_He kissed me back_.' It had only been for a moment, she acknowledged, but he HAD kissed her back. There was no question about it. "Dammit, Grant," she whispered as she brushed the tangles from her hair, "why can't you make sense, just once?"

With a sigh, she went to retreat to the safety of her bunk, but of course found Ward sitting beside it. "No loitering," she barked as she strode past him. Half of her was dying to talk to him but the other half, the stronger half, was still too hurt to do so right then. She was about to slide the door shut, but he had already stood up and put his foot in its path.

"Skye, listen, please?"

Skye sighed. "You don't have to say anything, Ward. I fucked up, I get it. I shouldn't have done that and I get it if you're mad. You had every right to throw me off of you like that. I get it if you don't want to train me anymore. I'll get May to do it, you don't have to put up wi-" her ramble was cut off mid-word as Grant delicately laid a light kiss on her lips, stunning her into silence. When he pulled away, her eyes stayed closed for a moment, before she pulled in a deep breath and opened them. "You need to make up your mind, mister."

"I have. Can I come in? To talk?"

Skye hesitated for a moment, but eventually caved and nodded, pulling the door open enough for Ward to cross the threshold before shutting it behind him. She sat on the edge of her bed, and Grant just stood in front of her awkwardly for a moment before she gestured at the chair by her desk, and he sat down in it.

"Talk." she said, crossing her arms in front of her chest, and crossing her legs over one another.

"If you went to Agent Coulson right now, and asked him what HYDRA was, do you know what he would tell you?"

"Yeah, that that was the name of the baddies that Captain America took down, before his deep freeze."

"Right. That's exactly what Coulson would say, and it is true. But it's not the whole truth. The whole truth is that HYDRA still exists today. Within S.H.E.I.L.D. And, until about ten minutes ago, I was one of them."

Skye had gone deathly still. "What the hell do you mean by that, Ward?" she demanded.

"John Garrett was my S.O., you know that. But he was HYDRA too. And when he recruited me for S.H.E.I.L.D., he recruited me as a HYDRA member hiding within S.H.E.I.L.D. There are thousands of double agents in S.H.E.I.L.D., and no one is the wiser. But I'm about to blow the whistle, thanks to you.

"An hour ago, I was committed to HYDRA. I was ready to do whatever I had to do. But then you kissed me, and I realized that there was something that I could never do, Skye. I could never, _ever_ betray you. I mean the others, I would have hated to do it, but it was you who made me realize that I don't want that life. I was HYDRA because I felt that I owed Garrett something. He pulled me out of a bad life, but he put me into one that was just as bad. And you, this team, this right here is the life I want to have. I want to have a life where I'm free to make my own choices, and a life where I can love! When I joined HYDRA, they told me that I could never get attached. But I don't want to live a distant life anymore. I want to be in love and it was you who made me see that.

"Skye, when I pushed you off of me, that was HYDRA Ward who did it. That was him, trying to keep himself from actually feeling any emotions, any attachments to you. But now, the guy who's telling you all this, the guy who kissed you just now, that's Grant Ward, Agent of S.H.E.I.L.D. That is the guy who I'm going to be. Who I am. And I get if you're mad, if you don't trust me. Hell, I don't know if I'll even still be around, after I go tell Coulson about HYDRA. But if I am, I need to know, just one thing."

"What?" Skye asked in a dead monotone.

"Will you be in my corner? Because I don't know if I could do it without you."

She stared at him in disbelief for a moment. "You're honestly asking me that?" She stood up and strode over to where he was seated, stopping just in front of him and bending down to kiss him once more. The kiss burned deep, and she almost didn't need to say the words that followed it. "I will always back you up, Grant. Come hell or high water, you can always count on me."


End file.
